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One of the biggest obstacles to effective dental surgery in general practice is that of blunt or damaged instrumentation. There are two surgical extraction techniques and an instrument type for each technique. The Elevation technique uses instruments with fatter, less acutely edged blades to rotate the tooth in its socket, tearing the periodontal ligament fibres to loosen the tooth. The luxation technique uses instruments with thin acutely edged blades to cut the periodontal ligament to loosen the tooth. Most surgeons use both luxation and elevation techniques during dental surgery. When a blade is used to cut any material, the sharp edge of the blade bends over slightly, widening and blunting the cutting edge. If a honing tool is used to realign this bent section back to the original shape, the blade can be maintained in a perfectly sharp state. If a blade is sharpened, metal has to be removed from the blade edge. If this sharpening is done by hand, the original cutting angles are difficult to replicate, resulting in blades that are not appropriately shaped for the surgery being performed. A number of manual and mechanised sharpening systems are available, but even mechanised sharpening, if incorrectly used, can change the characteristics of the blade and prevent it from working as designed. Instead, blades should be gently honed after each use to realign their cutting edges. Dental instruments are not immortal and should be replaced when the blade edges are damaged or misshapen. Regular honing and replacement when necessary will keep your dental kit in a perfect state at all times, resulting in easier, faster and safer dental surgery.

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Vet Ivan Crotaz and registered veterinary nurse Jo Hinde recently set up a veterinary CPD company, Lagolearn, that focuses purely on rabbits.